We have just finished our first week of Youth Camp and it’s been a week filled with fun activities and amazing campers! Our Youth Camp focuses on marine protected areas as well as the theme of “Who’s Reef is it?”
MONDAY
We started Youth Camp by welcoming many new and a couple of returning campers. We introduced our overarching theme and ran a beach clean-up! The kids loved collecting trash off the beach and working as a team. We also introduced our camp project which will be a story written and illustrated by our campers about a main character (Pedro the Parrotfish) who travels throughout the marine protected areas of Belize.
TUESDAY
Miss Dana and Miss Sabrina focused the lesson on protection. Miss Dana shared the story of “A House for Hermit Crab” by Eric Carle and the campers created their own shells. Then, Miss Sabrina introduced the different protected areas in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and played a game of Catch the Fish!
WEDNESDAY
Miss Jasmine ran a lesson on mangroves. She held an activity using bins and foam paper that showed the importance of the mangrove ecosystem. She also taught the campers an original mangrove song (written by Jasmine and Emily) and they sang the song as they walked over to the mangroves.
THURSDAY
Miss Emily taught the campers about seagrass. She focused on two types of seagrass: manatee grass and turtle grass. Then, she led a fishing game where the campers realized how seagrass protects fish and other marine animals.
FRIDAY
Miss Sabrina ended the first week of camp by teaching them about the shallow sea and the coral reef. She led an edible polyp activity to teach the campers about coral polyp anatomy and physiology. Then they played a game of Feed the Coral where their hands were polyps and they caught food (goldfish crackers and Swedish fish) to mimic how coral feed. Afterward, the campers learned about different reef creatures and their roles in the reef and they played a matching card game.
The first week of Youth Camp flew by and we are so excited to see what next week will bring including graduation and the glass bottom boat trip!
-Sabrina Cordero & The Coral Ed Team
Good job . Mother Earth would be very grateful